


From Carter, With Love

by campnowhere



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Carter writes Kara letters, Cat and Carter are off diving, F/F, Fluff, I'm a dork, seven natural wonders of the world, so that's an important thing, supercat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-21 00:14:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15545364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/campnowhere/pseuds/campnowhere
Summary: Cat and Carter are off diving into new adventures, but Kara is still on their minds.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Quick fluffs set in the second season right after Cat goes diving and Kara is starting her career as a reporter. There is no pod. There is only pining. The way it should be.

Kara is tired. 

Normally, the everyday life of a human does nothing to her stamina, but after being up all-night chasing down rogue prisoners, then running leads for Snapper all day, she’s all but out on her feet. She’s looking forward to the three pizzas she ordered on the way home and catching up on her shows. She only stops to pick up her mail on the way to her apartment.

She’s flicking through junk mail and bills on the way up the stairs when she stops short at a somewhat familiar script. She turns it over and slips her finger under the seal, inhaling deeply when for just a fraction of a second, her super senses kick in and she gets the tiniest whiff of a scent that keeps her up at night.

_Dear Kara,_

_Even though we are basically on an extended vacation, my mom has decided that I need to practice both my cursive handwriting and my letter composition to ensure that I’m not one of ‘those millennials’ when I go to college in a few years. I tried to explain to her that my generation wouldn’t be called millennials, but she only responded with ‘and I’m teaching you how to drive a stick shift’. Apparently, cursive and manual transmissions are her hope for the future. Seeing as though I haven’t seen her in the driver’s seat of a car in my lifetime, I’m a little scared._

_Anyway, I hope it’s okay that I send my letters to you. We’ve only been gone a few weeks and while I don’t really miss National City yet, I do miss my room and my videogames and my friends, like you. At least I hope we’re still friends. I know I didn’t spend much time around CatCo in the last few months, but I really loved it when you would play Catan with me in the evenings while Mom was still in her endless board meetings. And, oh, that one time that she joined in and you wiped the floor with her. She still mumbles under her breath about that._

_Mom said that before we left, you were going to be a reporter instead of her assistant. I think that’s awesome! And I know she’s really proud of you. Any time I mention you she just gets this little smile on her face and goes quiet (don’t tell her I told you that)._

_So, yesterday we landed on a tiny airstrip in Zimbabwe and then today we hiked to the edge of Victoria Falls. It was amazing! Mom says it’s one of the true natural wonders of the world and that she’s going to take me to see all of them on this trip. I can’t imagine anything more awesome. We’re going to stay here for a few days but then we’re headed to a volcano in Mexico! It rose out of a corn field from nothing in just nine years!_

_You don’t have to worry about writing me back. Mom says we’ll be moving around too much to give a return address. Hopefully, my cursive will improve and I won’t ‘write in print like a barbarian’. Can you guess who said that? ;) (I’m not supposed to use emojis, but she’s not looking right now)_

_I know you’re going to be an amazing reporter and I’ll write again soon!_

_From Carter, with love._

_P.S. – Mom says ‘stay safe and trust your instincts’_  
  
“What’s wrong with writing in print?” Alex grumbles from Kara’s couch. She takes a long swig from her beer and reaches for the letter from her sister’s hand. “Gimme. I like this kid. The thing about not seeing Cat driving a car cracks me up.”

Kara hands over the letter, unable to wipe the smile from her face if she tried. She still can’t believe that Carter wrote to her out of anyone, especially since for the last month, she’s been effectively pining over his mother like an abandoned puppy. “Did you know Victoria Falls is almost twice as tall as Niagara?” Kara asks absently. She’s looking out into the National City night lost in thought. “I looked it up after I read Carter’s letter this afternoon. I can’t wait to hear about the volcano,” she says softly, gently reaching for the high-quality paper from Alex’s extended hand.

Alex gives her soft-hearted sister an indulgent look. She’s given her many, many indulgent looks since Cat Grant took off to dive four weeks ago. “You know, Supergirl could be in Mexico City in just a handful of minutes, maybe just a flyby?” she suggests lightly.

Kara startles at the suggestion. “Oh, no no no. I couldn’t do that. I don’t want to intrude. And I have work,” she rambles on. “And who even knows when they’ll be there you know? And why,” she stops to laugh, “why would they want me there?”

Alex gives her another look. “Kara, sweetie. Carter has always loved you. Why else would he have picked you to write to? Out of anyone?” she asks with raised eyebrows.

Kara shakes her head. “Still, Alex. It’s not the time.” She runs her fingers over the paper in her hands, appreciating the weight of it, the roughness of the paper. “l want Cat and Carter to have their adventure together, you know? After Myriad, I think she realized the same thing. She needs to spend more time with him. National City can wait,” she nods having made up her mind. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------

“Mom?” 

Cat tugs off her reading glasses and sets down her tablet. “Yes, darling?” It’s late, but she has relaxed his normal schedule so that he can enjoy their travels as much as possible.  


“Do you miss your job at CatCo?” he asks, setting aside another piece of paper where he’s been practicing his penmanship. 

She hums thoughtfully before answering. “I miss parts of it, I guess. Not the late nights or the deadlines. Not the incompetence,” she smiles.

He smiles back. “Do you miss the people?”

She glares at him playfully. “I just said I didn’t miss the incompetence.”

“But not everyone was incompetent,” he says slyly. “If Kara was, you would have never promoted her.”

She narrows her eyes at her ridiculously smart son, then sniffs a bit indifferently. “Keira was different.”

“How was _Kara_ different exactly?” he asks with emphasis on the correct pronunciation of her name. 

“She had excellent penmanship,” she says quickly as she rises from her seat. “It’s the mark of success these days. I’m going to get hot cocoa. Would you like some?”

He smirks at her with the same expression she sees in the mirror every day. “Of course, Mom,” he says indulgently, then pulls out another lined piece of paper and begins his practice again.


	2. Chapter 2

“You know where I found this?” Winn asks excitedly as he attaches a tablet to a fancy, bendy contraption that clamps to the edge of the sunbed, “Facebook!” He adjusts it to where the small tablet screen is just to the left of the hot rays of artificial sunlight heading her way, but still within reach.

Kara just smiles at his obvious happiness, grateful for his doting. She’s about to thank him again when he interrupts her.

“See? Now you just lay back, relax and soak up those rays while you catch up with your favorites on Netflix! No hands required,” he rambles. “Whatever it takes to get you back on your feet, Supergirl.”

She smiles again, but a little sadness creeps in. Kara reaches out a hand and grabs his, pulling his fidgeting fingers to encase them in her own. “I’m ok, Winn. I promise, it’s just taking a little longer than normal because of the time I had to suspend in space.”

“I know,” he says softly. “You saved us all, Kara. Literally. You caught that thing with your bare hands. An uncharted meteor that appeared out of nowhere and I mean, really, what are the guys at NASA doing?? They should have seen that thing years ago!” he exclaims, again agitated that the world’s foremost experts on the universe didn’t spot the blip on the screen that could have obliterated the western seaboard and caused massive destruction. He spotted it. Little Winn Schott, Jr. who just started his job at the DEO.

“I wouldn’t have had the chance to save anyone if it weren’t for you, Winn. And honestly…I didn’t catch anything. I just got in its way,” Kara says with a sleepy smile. “You’re the real hero,” she spots tears welling up in his eyes and cuts him a break. “Now, mind cueing up the latest eps of ‘The Walking Dead’? I am so behind.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

“How ya doing, sleeping beauty?” Alex jokes as she comes into the warm room and tugs Kara’s chart off of the end of the sunbed. She reaches out and pinches playfully at her sister’s toes and takes relief in the fact that she doesn’t get kicked through the wall in retaliation. No powers yet. Not that she’s happy about that, but she wants Kara to get as much downtime as possible in the wake of her worldwide rescue.

“I’m tired of this stupid sun light and I’m hungry,” Kara whines pitifully. “And I’ve been here for 4 days and I’m almost maxed out on zombies, so I hope you have something else to occupy my time or I’m taking an Uber to my apartment.”

Alex glares. “Do you think vegging out on your own couch is important enough to bring an Uber driver to a clandestine government operation base site?” she asks incredulously.

“Yes,” Kara says seriously. 

Alex huffs out a breath. “Then I guess maybe you don’t want to stick around long enough to go through your mail,” she flourishes out a hand, making sure that Kara sees the handwritten address on the top letter. “Which by the way, I had to pick your mailbox lock for, because I forgot to take your keys. And your neighbor almost called the cops on me until I helped her take up her groceries and reminded her that I’m your freaking sister.”

Kara’s eyes go wide with delight. “Gimme!!”

Alex rolls her eyes and heads out the door only to find Lucy staring through the window. “I haven’t seen her that happy about reading material since the pizza menu yesterday,” she quips, smiling fondly at their patient. She turns to regard the eldest Danver’s sister. “Is this the highly expected Carter Grant letter?” 

Alex settles at the window beside her, gazing fondly at her alien sibling as she pours over the stationary in her hands. “Looks like it. I think we’ve been waiting 10 days for this one. Think there will be another ‘P.S.’ from Cat?”

Lucy sighs and leans her head against the other brunette’s shoulder. “I can only hope. It’s so romantic…a burgeoning love story rekindled through long distance correspondence? God, it could be a movie.”

“Gross,” Alex grimaces. “This is my baby sister, Lucy. And the letters aren’t even from her. They’re from her teenage son.”

“That’s what’s so great!” Lucy excitedly whispers as she tugs on Alex’s long sleeved standard issue DEO shirt. “It’s subtle, you know. Not in your face, just in the background. Perfect,” she sighs again.

“You need a date, Lane,” Alex jokes. 

Lucy raises her head and an eyebrow in question. “Is that an invitation?” sending a rapid blush to the agent’s face and neck. Lucy preens.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------  
_Dear Kara,_

_Did you know Mom speaks Spanish? I had no idea. I thought she was happy when we were in Africa, but it’s nothing like Mexico. Who knew?_

_Today, we took a horseback tour through the lava fields of Paracutin. It’s the volcano I was telling you about last time. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve also never seen my media queen Mom on a horse. I don’t think I’ll ever forget this trip. (Insert indulgent emoji here)_

_We’ve been here for four days. We visited a school the very first day and while my Mom was talking with the children and the teachers, I played soccer with some of the kids my age. Their English was fantastic and they taught me a few phrases in Spanish! By the time we left, everyone was hugging us and telling us thank you. I think my Mom may have donated a lot of money to the kids. I think she did that in Zimbabwe too. Whenever I ask, she just changes the subject, but I know she’ll talk to me about it soon._

_The food here is fantastic! I wish you were with us, because I know you would love the street tacos. Mom ate four at one time! I had seven, but I know you could have given me some competition. I’ll never forget the time you finished the whole pizza by yourself when you were staying with me._

_We’re having a great time. We watch the news together every evening and we both spend time reading about the local cultures wherever we are. I’ve been reading about the geology of the area, about what caused the volcano to form so quickly. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my Mom so relaxed. She can seem a little distant sometimes, but I think it’s because she misses her life at CatCo…or maybe she just misses someone at CatCo._

_Next on our list is Mt. Everest! We’ll be traveling to Kathmandu to stay for a while to acclimate to the altitude, then we’ll travel to the base camp of the mountain. We won’t go further than that, but to be able to see Everest is amazing enough. Mom says we may stay in Nepal for a while. She’s always wanted to visit._

_I hope everything is going well for you in your new job. I know she hopes so too. I caught her scanning the website for your byline. She read your article at least three times and she was especially happy that day._

_Look for my next letter from Nepal!_

_From Carter, with love._

_P.S. – Mom says ‘Nice Catch’  
___

__Kara freezes as she reads those last words, her breath caught in her throat at the implication._ _

__“Kara?” Alex rushes into the room in a panic with Lucy on her heels. “What’s wrong? Are you ok?”_ _

__“I’m fine,” Kara says too quickly and too loudly, tucking the letter into her lap for safe keeping. “Fine,” she croaks again, her throat dry._ _

__Alex reacts quickly, too quick for her now human sister to reciprocate and plucks the letter from her hands. As Kara protests weakly from her sunbed prison, Alex and Lucy scan the letter. Alex smirks at most of it, Lucy bites at her fist. “I figured,” Alex finally says, giving Kara a quick glance. Lucy just hums in agreement._ _

__“She…she knows,” Kara finally says quietly. “I suspected, but I wasn’t sure.”_ _

__“She’s also in lo…” Alex clamps a hand over Lucy’s mouth before she can finish her thought._ _

__“It’s fine, Kara,” she says while still keeping a lid on the younger Lane’s mouth. Alex smiles. “Cat is your biggest ally. I don’t think there’s any threat there.”_ _

__“Mhhrmrmmrmrm,” Lucy agrees, still behind Alex’s fingers._ _

__\--------------------------------------------------------------_ _

__“Mom, what did you mean by ‘nice catch’?”_ _

__Cat cuts her eyes up from her book to find Carter distractedly looking through his pamphlets from that day’s travels. “Just Kara’s article, darling. She caught a great story.”_ _

__He hums in affirmation and she gratefully returns to her reading, watching him warily over the rim of her glasses._ _

**Author's Note:**

> txnmcky on tumblr


End file.
